


The Tenma

by AvatarAang7



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/F, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Shinobi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24237472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvatarAang7/pseuds/AvatarAang7
Summary: The good days were behind them. Asami was left scarred, and Korra was left terrified of being called into battle again. Tensions are rising in the Earth Kingdom, and when Jinora gets kidnapped, they have to overcome their past hardships to save their friend, and maybe even more.Sengoku Era Korrasami AU. Rated M for violence and other things that would make for spoilers.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	The Tenma

_Clang! Clang! Clang!_ The sound of swords rang out through the courtyard, but it didn't worry Asami. She pretended to read the book her father had told her to read, but in truth, she was far more interested in Korra's sword practice.

-"Good!" Tenzin said. "Strong, decisive. But mastering the way of the sword takes more than brute strength alone, Korra. You need grace, to see it not as a weapon, but as a part of yourself."

Korra nodded, but didn't really seem to grasp what he had just said, as Asami saw her attacking her master again with full power, as was usual for her. They were just sparring with dulled blades, of course, there was no way an eleven year old girl would stand any kind of chance against the greatest swordsman in the Yu Dao Mountains, but his training had been paying off for Asami's best friend. She was picking up on his graceful movements, her _shirasaya_ sized for a young girl just right, not too heavy, but with enough reach to make sure Tenzin didn't have to hold back too much.

He was, of course, holding back, because he had two feet of range on Korra, not to mention three decades of experience, but she was getting better.

Asami sighed. She wished her father would let her train with swords, but he thought those would be too dangerous, and that if she were to train with them, it would prompt her to go looking for trouble. She didn't want to, she only wanted to make sure she could defend herself if necessary, and she wouldn't be able to do that properly with just the unarmed martial arts her father hired tutors for.

-"Ow!" Korra cried out. Asami was pulled from her thoughts, seeing her friend clutching her shoulder.

-"I told you to be more patient, Korra. You went for a strike that wasn't on, and left yourself wide open because of that. If we were fighting with edged blades, that would have cost you your arm." Tenzin looked up at the sky, trying to judge the time. "We will be having dinner soon. Pack the swords away and get yourself cleaned up. You can consider that your last lesson of today," he said, pointing at her shoulder.

Asami decided this was her time to do something, as Tenzin did always let her help Korra packing everything away. It was the closest thing she would get to wielding a sword.

"I think you were doing better," she said as Korra was struggling to get out of her bamboo sparring armor. Asami quickly helped her by pulling on the shoulders, allowing Korra to slip out.

-"The bruise on my shoulder disagrees with you."

Asami laughed. "He's a living legend, don't beat yourself up.'

She rolled her shoulder to get the ache out. "Don't need to. I have Master Tenzin for that."

Another chuckle, but also a wistful sigh. "You know I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat, right?"

Korra nodded as she handed Asami Tenzin's katana. "I know. I would love to have you join me, that I could spar with my friend. There's no changing your father's mind, is there?"

Asami shook her head. "No chance. At least he's letting me stay for dinner. Come on, let's put this stuff away, and I'll kick your butt at Pai Sho after dinner."

* * *

She never got to hear Korra's reply again, because Asami was rudely awoken from her dream by someone banging on the door. This was not someone gently knocking, this was someone in a hurry.

She looked out the window to judge the time, and saw that the sun had barely risen over the mountains. With a groan, Asami swung her legs out of her bed, stretched her back and took a quick look around. Her little house had nothing she didn't need, a stove that had she would need to burn up late not too long from now if she wanted to stay warm through the night, a single shelf for her meager collection of books, a table to eat by, and a small rack for some clean clothes. Benefits of living on her own, she grimly thought. Not much space needed.

Her attention turned back to the knocking on the door. If they came this early, they probably had a good reason. "Abbot Shung," she said upon opening up and seeing the friendly old man, though with a worried look on his face.

-"Lady Sato, I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but it's urgent. Master Tenzin has requested your presence at the Gyatso Estate immediately."

She took a deep breath. "Very well. Let me get dressed, and I will come with you right away." He bowed deeply, and then stepped back to let Asami have her privacy.

As soon as she closed the door, she knew it wasn't good. Tenzin wouldn't call upon her unless there was something deeply wrong, so she would have to hurry as well. Chances were he wouldn't care too much about appearances and formalities anyway.

The only room in her house to be separate from the others was a small bathing chamber, which now just had an empty latrine if she found herself caught short and a bowl of cold water in it, which was Asami's goal. She splashed some water in her face, and still sighed at the reflection that greeted her in her bronze mirror. The scar running from her above her eyebrow diagonally down to her jaw was as ugly as ever, but there was nothing she could do to change it. Her worried frown only made it more pronounced.

Having cleaned herself somewhat and quickly slipped into a fresh kimono, Asami joined Abbot Shung, already mounted and waiting for her to do the same. Her horse, a brown mare named Mejiro, was already awake as well from all the commotion outside, but she was eager enough for a ride.

On the way over to the Gyatso Manor, Asami was worried. Not just about why Tenzin had sent for her so early, but also about her dream. She remembered Korra well, but hadn't seen her since the day she got this scar, and yet now she was dreaming of her friend again. Were the spirits trying to tell her something, or did she just miss her?

"Can you tell me what this is all about?" Asami asked.

-"I'm afraid not, Lady Sato. Master Tenzin has given me strict instructions not to speak of what transpired outside of the estate."

The arrival at the manor itself didn't bode well either. The gates with their familiar three spirals carved in were open, but there were two guards on either side of it, whereas normally, the first guards you encountered were on the inside of the estate. And even if they hadn't been, there was a somber atmosphere hanging around.

Without saying a word to anyone there, Shung preceded her into the manor, through the empty audience chamber, and into what looked like the family dining room. Asami felt out of place, like she was intruding on a very private affair. Tenzin sat next to Pema, an arm around her shoulder. She had little baby Rohan on her arm, still sleeping soundly, but tears were running down her face. Ikki was sitting in the corner, clutching her knees up to her chest. Even Meelo was quietly sitting at the table, staring at a cup of tea that was slowly cooling off.

It gave Asami a pretty good guess as to what had happened.

When she entered, Tenzin stood up, seemingly having aged ten years since last she saw him two weeks ago. "Asami, thank you for coming so quickly."

"I'm guessing I'm here because of the person who isn't in this room."

He nodded. "They want a ransom," he said, handing her a piece of parchment.

_Daimyo Tenzin Gyatso,_

_We hold your daughter hostage, and if you want to see her again, be on Taku Market Square, at midnight, on the next full moon. You will pay 2500 silver yuans for your daughter's safe return. If you make this public, are not there on time, or fail to pay in full, we will deliver her head to your doorstep. There is no negotiating._

-"They also left this to prove they weren't lying," Tenzin continued, showing Asami a beaded wooden necklace, which had a disk with three blue spirals as a pendant. "Only two of these exist in the world. I have one, and Jinora the other. I would recognize it anywhere."

She nodded. "So what exactly do you want me to do?"

-"I want you to find her, and free her." When Asami was about to protest, Tenzin stopped her. "This isn't about pride or politics or money. These bandits simply cannot be trusted. Have you heard what happened to Baatar Beifong II?"

Asami had heard those stories. He had been taken for ransom as well, and Suyin Beifong paid, but the bandits had killed him anyway. In response, Suyin and her Captain of the Guard amassed an army and put every bandit they could find to the sword. It was a slaughter, and the province of Zaofu was still recovering. "I have. So do you know where they could have taken her?"

Tenzin shook his head. "Unfortunately not. The next full moon is in three weeks, so you have some time to find her, but not much."

This was going to be a big problem. "That's bad. I can fight my way through them, but I'm no tracker. I don't know if I can find her in that amount of time."

He sighed, almost as if he was afraid that was going to be Asami's answer. "I can't help you, I'm far too recognizable, people would put together that Jinora has been taken in a heartbeat, and we can't risk that. But there is someone who can help you. Korra was always an excellent tracker."

Asami nodded, but that was potentially going to be another problem. "I haven't seen her in three years, not since the night of the raid."

Tenzin took a deep breath. "Something changed in Korra that night. It's hard to say what, she doesn't want to talk to me about what happened, but she's not the same anymore. However, I do believe she is still able to help you, and that for Jinora's sake, she will."

She sighed. "I'll try."

* * *

Tenzin definitely wasn't lying, Korra's hut was nothing if not remote. He had given Asami instructions as to how to get there, and had an extra horse saddled up for her. Oogi, a stallion, but a tame one, she had no trouble guiding it through the mountains. Korra had made herself a hut where she spent all her days, a few hours riding from Yu Dao and the Gyatso Estate, but Tenzin still sent a supply of rice her way every month, and sometimes even went to visit her himself.

But as Asami rode up to the little hut, she realized that her chances wouldn't be brilliant. The hut was in pretty miserable condition, desperately needing to be tarred again to protect it from the rain, but one thing that was in perfect condition was a rack against the northern wall with fermentation jars in it. Those were for making saké.

As she dismounted, a large white wolf came trotting up to her, on guard at first, making the horses very nervous. But when Asami knelt down and let it sniff her fingers, the beast soon licked her hand and wagged its tail. At least that hadn't changed. "I've missed you too, Naga," Asami smiled as she scratched her behind the ear. The fact that the wolf still recognized her as a friend had to be a good sign, and a sign that she was meant to be here.

-"Naga!" came a voice from the hut. "I'm not hearing the sound of men and horses dying, so what's going on?" And there she emerged from the too-low door, even for Korra's short stature, but the sight shocked them both. "Spirits..."

She took a deep breath. "Korra." The expression on her face was extremely hard to read, a mix of guilt, regret, self-hatred, but maybe just a tinge of happiness in there of seeing her friend again. It was also fairly plain that she had been neglecting her appearance. Her hair never came down further than her shoulders when Asami last saw her, but now it hung well past her waist. Her blue kimono was faded, worn, dirty, and full of holes, not to mention tied up the wrong way around, like one would dress a corpse for a funeral. She was barefoot, and stranger still, there were no weapons on her in sight. Korra normally never went anywhere without at least a short _wakizashi_ on her hip.

It took Korra quite a while to find her tongue again while Asami sized her up. "Asami..." she ultimately managed. "You look... good. Better than the last time I saw you."

"Last time you saw me, you had to carry me to the infirmary at the Gyatso Estate. And I'd say the same for you, but you look like you've been strapped to the bow of a ship."

Korra looked down, taking in her own appearance as if it was the first time she noticed it. "Well, what can I say, when there's no one around to be bothered by it..."

Asami took a deep breath. "Korra, I'm not here on a social visit. I'm here because I need you."

At this, she let out a dry snort. "What could you possibly need me for? Just look at me."

"It's Jinora. She's been taken."

Korra's face fell. "Spirits... For ransom, I presume?"

"Yes, but Tenzin doesn't trust it, and I don't blame him. We find her, bring her back home safely, and walk away with half the ransom each."

-"I would help you, and not for the money, but there are far better people out there than me to do this. I haven't held a sword in three years, and now you expect me to track someone and free them from a gang of vicious bandits?"

"I'll be doing the fighting," Asami said. "I just need you to help me find her."

Korra did not seem convinced. "If they can kidnap Jinora from the Gyatso Estate, they must have some serious manpower, you cannot go in like a one-man-army and expect to walk away with a hostage in tow. You need someone to have your back, and I'm not sure I can be that person."

"I've seen you fight, Korra, that kind of skill doesn't just fade away. You were trained by the Sword of the Storm since you were six years old, if you draw your sword again, you will remember." Asami's confidence was a long shot, because she had never seen her friend like this. She didn't just look like she had spent the past three years in hell, she looked like she had let it beat her.

Korra sighed, almost as if she didn't want to bring up what she was about to say. "There is another reason. Asami, I can't kill anymore." She seemed pretty serious about this, because she also looked as if she was afraid. "The Legend of the Tenma. It's all true."

Asami's first instinct was to dismiss it, but she knew better than that. The Legend of the Tenma was the story of a warrior becoming so consumed by rage that all he wanted to do was kill, and nothing could stop him. A man so single-minded simply turned into a beast, and it had taken the legendary Wan fighting with the four elements as his weapons to stop him. But she did need Korra, so perhaps feigning ignorance would be her best options for now, and deal with the rest as it comes. "That's a children's story, told by wet nurses to scare children."

-"You saw the bodies that night, you know what I'm capable of." Korra sighed. "I can't take that risk again. No, of course I don't want to see Jinora harmed, but if it happens again... I don't know if I can come back from that again, and then I would be an even bigger threat to Jinora's safety than those bandits, and to yours."

Now her resolve hardened. "I don't believe that. You want to know why? Because above all else, you are a good person, Korra. You are not a monster, and the Korra I knew would do anything she could to make sure no harm came to her friends. I don't need you to kill, but I do need you to help me find her." Asami took a look at the rack of jars outside of Korra's hut. "Or you could just stay here and feel sorry for yourself, drinking saké until one day you don't wake up from it anymore." She righted herself just a little bit more. "Some people are still counting on you to do the right thing, even if you don't think you're capable of that anymore."

Korra sighed and considered the options for a few more moments. "Okay," she ultimately said. "I'll help you find her."

"Good," Asami said, already mounting her horse. "Pack your sword and a fresh kimono, we leave immediately."

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's another story by me, but unlike previous times, I have a good idea where this one is heading. I'm aiming to have this be sort of She's a Pirate sized, but no guarantees there. It will get a lot darker than this, so do consider yourself warned. But if that doesn't faze you, I hope to see you at the next one. Take care, everyone.


End file.
